Fort Benning has identified the two soldiers killed in a storm during training exercises Tuesday on Yonah Mountain in White County. Staff Sgt. George Taber and 2nd Lt. Evan Fitzgibbon were among five soldiers injured around 3:15 p.m. on August 9 when a tree fell on them while they were waiting for the storm to clear, Benning officials said.
In a statement late Wednesday afternoon, Fort Benning officials extended their condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the deceased soldiers.
“We are all deeply saddened by the loss of these two outstanding soldiers and send our heartfelt condolences to their families,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, Fort Benning commander.
‘The very best’
“This loss resonates across our Army and across our nation.” – Col. Christopher Hammonds, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade Commander
Fitzgibbon was an infantry officer assigned to the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course, 199th Leader Brigade at Fort Benning. He was commissioned into the Army in May 2021 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Taber was a special forces medical sergeant with the 7th Special Forces Group at Eglin Air Force Base. He enlisted in the Army in 2017 and graduated from the special forces qualification course in 2018.
They were among an elite group of servicemembers training to become Army Rangers at Camp Frank D. Merrill in Dahlonega.
“Those who volunteer to attend Ranger School represent the very best of our military,” said Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade Commander Col. Christopher Hammonds. “This loss resonates across our Army and across our nation.”
The Army Ranger training camp in Dahlonega routinely conducts rappelling exercises on Yonah Mountain’s rock face. During Tuesday’s exercise, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area around the mountain from about 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., warning of winds up to 60 miles per hour and quarter-sized hail.
‘Mass confusion’
White County Fire Chief Mike Lefevre said when he arrived at the top of the mountain following the incident “it was pretty much mass confusion at that point because there were so many people up there.”
Chief Lefevre says an apparent wind gust from the storm caused the tree to fall. Army Med Units transported the soldiers off the mountain to waiting ambulances. All of the injured soldiers were transported to a local hospital, where Fitzgibbon and Taber were later pronounced dead.
By Wednesday afternoon, August 10, two of the injured soldiers had been released from the hospital, Fort Benning public affairs officer Terry Stringfellow told Now Habersham. A third soldier remained under observation.
Georgia Emergency Management personnel were at White County’s Mountain Lakes Resort preparing to search for a missing man when Tuesday’s storm hit. GEMA/Homeland Security Area 1 Field Coordinator Don Strength says GEMA personnel responded to the Yonah rescue effort. White County EMS and the Cleveland and Helen fire departments also responded.
